Emperor Valerian
First Post
I'm running a game for several friends in a 3.5 homebrew heavily influenced by the Chinese classic The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. One of my players is in love with the book, and especially one character, Zhuge Liang, who is called a 'wizard,' and acted as a battlefield commander and aide to one of the main contenders for the Chinese throne.
He's been looking for a prestige class for his 9th level sorcerer, and I'd like to try to draw up a prestige class that'd have the flavor of this character, as well as the other 'strategists' from this period in history. Unfortunately, I've never once designed a prestige class before. Ever.
So I'm looking for some help. I have a general idea for something, based on this character and others from the novel, what I'd like the benefits of this class to be:
1) Some method controlling battlefield weather. In the novels, just before the great Battle of Red Cliffs Zhuge Liang called on a south wind to aid his attack. Something scaleable, possibly. Control Weather at higher levels, possibly?
2) Some way of manipulating and insulting others to a specified action. Various strategist aides did this throughout the novel to force battle on more favorable conditions. One of the ideas bouncing in my head was a special form of suggestion, which can be used a few times in written form. Maybe have its DC increased by the level of this prestige class.
3) In my homebrew, the confuscian scholars of ancient China are roughly D&D wizards. Since these same scholars were usually the strategists in the novel, I'd like the class to retain some spellcasting. Maybe an increase in spellcaster level every other level of the prestige class?
4) Most of these 'strategists' were particularly good at guessing what an enemy's response and future plans were. Maybe a spell-like ability, such as clairvoyance at higher levels?
Some of the main unresolved issues in my mind are how large should this prestige class be? 5 or 10 levels? What, perhaps are some other benefits that might fit into this overall concept?
And what should the requirements be to get into this prestige class? I'm pretty sure some ranks in diplomacy, sense motive, spellcraft and innuendo would be required. How much, I am not sure. A certain wisdom score? Intelligence score?
I also had a couple ideas for possible feats this class could include. These were ripped off the WotC boards... I'm not sure how useful they may be.
Commander [General]
You attract more low-level followers to your service.
Prerequisites: Charisma 15+, Leadership, leadership score of 13 or higher.
Benefit: You double the number of 1st level followers you can attract according to your leadership score. You also gain 1 additional 2nd level follower.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times. Its effects stack. A second doubling counts as a tripling, and a third as a quadrupling.
Tactician [General]
With your understanding of the flow of combat, you can direct allies to take advantage of openings in an enemy’s defense, or you can shout out warnings to help them protect themselves.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+.
Benefit: You can use the aid another action from up to 60 ft. away, giving a bonus to her next attack roll or to her Defense against an opponent’s incoming attack, so long as the attack in question occurs before your next action. This feat even allows you to aid allies with regard to ranged attacks. This feat can only assist a creature by increasing its attack roll or Defense score.
He's been looking for a prestige class for his 9th level sorcerer, and I'd like to try to draw up a prestige class that'd have the flavor of this character, as well as the other 'strategists' from this period in history. Unfortunately, I've never once designed a prestige class before. Ever.
So I'm looking for some help. I have a general idea for something, based on this character and others from the novel, what I'd like the benefits of this class to be:
1) Some method controlling battlefield weather. In the novels, just before the great Battle of Red Cliffs Zhuge Liang called on a south wind to aid his attack. Something scaleable, possibly. Control Weather at higher levels, possibly?
2) Some way of manipulating and insulting others to a specified action. Various strategist aides did this throughout the novel to force battle on more favorable conditions. One of the ideas bouncing in my head was a special form of suggestion, which can be used a few times in written form. Maybe have its DC increased by the level of this prestige class.
3) In my homebrew, the confuscian scholars of ancient China are roughly D&D wizards. Since these same scholars were usually the strategists in the novel, I'd like the class to retain some spellcasting. Maybe an increase in spellcaster level every other level of the prestige class?
4) Most of these 'strategists' were particularly good at guessing what an enemy's response and future plans were. Maybe a spell-like ability, such as clairvoyance at higher levels?
Some of the main unresolved issues in my mind are how large should this prestige class be? 5 or 10 levels? What, perhaps are some other benefits that might fit into this overall concept?
And what should the requirements be to get into this prestige class? I'm pretty sure some ranks in diplomacy, sense motive, spellcraft and innuendo would be required. How much, I am not sure. A certain wisdom score? Intelligence score?
I also had a couple ideas for possible feats this class could include. These were ripped off the WotC boards... I'm not sure how useful they may be.
Commander [General]
You attract more low-level followers to your service.
Prerequisites: Charisma 15+, Leadership, leadership score of 13 or higher.
Benefit: You double the number of 1st level followers you can attract according to your leadership score. You also gain 1 additional 2nd level follower.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times. Its effects stack. A second doubling counts as a tripling, and a third as a quadrupling.
Tactician [General]
With your understanding of the flow of combat, you can direct allies to take advantage of openings in an enemy’s defense, or you can shout out warnings to help them protect themselves.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+.
Benefit: You can use the aid another action from up to 60 ft. away, giving a bonus to her next attack roll or to her Defense against an opponent’s incoming attack, so long as the attack in question occurs before your next action. This feat even allows you to aid allies with regard to ranged attacks. This feat can only assist a creature by increasing its attack roll or Defense score.
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